iPhone 16 preorder sales in Taiwan to start Friday

Taipei, Sept. 10 (CNA) Preorder sales of the newest iPhone 16 series, unveiled by Apple Inc. on Monday U.S. time, are scheduled to kick off in Taiwan on Friday.

On its website, the preorder sale will start at 8 p.m. Friday in Taiwan for the four new iPhone 16 models -- the 6.1-inch iPhone 16, the 6.7-inch iPhone 16 Plus, the 6.3-inch iPhone 16 Pro and the 6.9-inch iPhone 16 Pro Max, the first iPhone lineup equipped with Apple's artificial intelligence features, the Apple Intelligence.

The new phone series will hit store shelves in Taiwan on Sept. 20, according to Apple.

Prices for the iPhone 16 start at NT$29,900 (US$928), while the iPhone 16 Pro's starting price has been set at NT$32,900. Prices for the high-end iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max start at NT$36,900 and NT$44,900, respectively.

The prices of the iPhone 16 series are the same as the iPhone 15, despite the new phone series featuring added AI functionality introduced at Apple's 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, which allows iPhone 16 users to search for information using a camera.

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will be available in five colors: Black, White, Pink, Teal and Ultramarine; the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be sold in four colors: White Titanium, Black Titanium, Natural Titanium and Desert Titanium, and the color of Desert Titanium is a new feature of Apple's phone, which replaced Blue Titanium of the iPhone 15 Pro models.

In the new iPhones, users will see two new buttons: an "Action Button" and a "Camera Control" button.

With the Action Button, iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus users will be able to perform "a variety of functions with just a press," such as recording a voice memo or opening the Calendar app, Apple said.

The Camera Control button will be available for the new iPhone lineup to allow users to have instant access to the camera with just a click and adjust various camera functions by sliding their fingers.

The flagship iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are powered by the advanced A18 Pro chip, designed with industry-level computing power, which uses Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s (TSMC) second generation of the advanced 3 nanometer process.

Meanwhile, three major telecom operators also announced their own preorder sale plans on Tuesday.

Far EasTone Telecommunications Co. and Taiwan Mobile Co. said their preorder sale will follow Apple's to start at 8 p.m. Friday, while Chunghwa Telecom will hold a limited preorder sale between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Chao Yi-nan (趙憶南), senior vice president of Far EasTone, said Apple left the new iPhones' prices unchanged this year but raised the new phone's specifications, which is expected to boost demand for 5G services and lead to a huge wave of replacements.

Echoing Chao, Lin Tung-min (林東閔), Taiwan Mobile's chief commercial officer for individual customers, said he expected sales of the latest new iPhones will grow no less than 20 percent from the revenue posted by the iPhone 15 series.

In a research report, Tianfeng Securities Co. analyst Kuo Ming-chi (郭明錤), who is well-known for his research notes on Apple and its supply chain, said Tuesday that Taiwan-based manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. is expected to remain the largest iPhone 16 assembler to account for 55-60 percent of the total production.

Kuo said shipments of the iPhone 16 series are expected to range between 88 million and 89 million units this year, up from his earlier estimate of 87 million to 88 million units.

A U.S. brokerage said Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn on the global markets, will secure about 60 percent of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus production, and more than 50 percent of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max assembly.

Last week, Hon Hai said its sales momentum for the third quarter will grow from a year earlier and a quarter earlier on the back of traditional peak season effects.